Leadership and Business Growth

Leadership is like fitness.

You can get fit.

But you can always get fitter.

You can learn to lead.

But can always become a better leader. 

Depending on how you view it, this can be exciting or depressing.

Exciting because there’s an endless opportunity to improve. 

Depressing because it’s overwhelming to know you need to to improve. 

That’s why leadership can be fickle.

My lesson today?

Realize that Leadership is a journey.

Sometimes you are ahead.

Sometimes you are behind.

The road is long.

The secret is to keep your head up and develop more skills every day.

“1 day at a time” as they say in my 12-step group.

This will help you navigate the fickle waters of this thing we call leadership.

Working with people is hard.

Building a team is hard.

Leading is hard.  

This is the hard truth of life, leadership, and business.

However, here’s the 2nd truth.

While hard.

This is where the value lies.  

My lesson today is this: 

When things get hard.

When people’s issues stack up.

Reframe your frustration to gratitude.

After all, your ability to lead and problem-solve through people issues is where your value & opportunity lies.

So embrace the hard!

A couple of weeks ago, we had our coach facing Elite Training in Southern California. My brother Barrett led an incredible workshop and asked me to speak on Leadership.

In my talk, I laid out a framework for self-leadership called the 2 D’s which are founded on 1) Direction and 2) Discipline.

To lead yourself and others, you need both.

Specific to discipline, here is what I know to be true and shared in the training around your leadership capacity. 

“Your leadership capacity is only as strong as your level of discipline.”

Let this sync in and your leadership will grow.

I was humbly reminded of this famous adage last week.

“A healthy man has a million dreams, a sick man has one.”

That’s right: Your Health is Your #1 Wealth!

Why do I share this today?

Last week I broke a 2-year no-sick streak but grabbed the flu on Tuesday accompanied by a 102 fever through Thursday. 

I was seeing stars, in a world of pain, and wiped out my week.

Today’s leadership lesson?

Your health is your biggest life and leadership asset.

Invest in it.

Without it, nothing else matters.

Today’s lesson is one of acquiring emotional intelligence. 

This is mission-critical to be a strong leader.

Maybe even one of the top skill sets needed for the job.

Yes, much easier said than done which is why leadership is hard and requires self-mastery.

Why do I share this today?

I had a thought back to an embarrassing situation in my youth. I was 20 years old when my girlfriend broke up with me.

I overreacted, overdrank, and made a scene.

I thought the “world was over”.

It was ugly.

The truth?

I look back and laugh as I am 21 years removed from the situation.

There are many lessons I learned from this experience.

One of them is in perspective.

What I learned is that most things in life are not as good or bad as they seem at the moment.

When things are going well.

Guess what?

This too shall pass.

When you’re down on your luck.

Guess what?

This too shall pass.

Today’s leadership lesson?

Keep in control of your emotions, not the other way around.

What I’ve learned in life and leadership is that most times it’s not as good or bad as you think.

So take a deep breath and keep leading!

A leadership truth I’ve learned and was reminded of in 2024 that can be counterintuitive is this:

Your following can and will get behind an idea that isn’t theirs. 

However, there’s 1 important caveat.

Their ideas and feedback need to be heard before they will get on board. 

The opposite is true.

If you don’t create the space to ensure your team’s ideas are shared and they feel heard. 

Human nature shuts down, your influence declines and you will feel noticeable resistance. 

The lesson?

Create space for your team’s ideas to be shared and ask for feedback to ensure they feel heard.

Then decide with conviction, and your team will go with you even if it wasn’t their ideal choice.

Just ensure they feel heard!

Onward.

I received this below leadership message from my friend Craig Ballantyne last week.

I thought it was spot on so I wanted to share it with you.

This way, you can level up your leadership for 2025.

Phases of leadership:

• You must first lead yourself (good habits)
• You must lead with vision (helping your team see their future)
• You must lead with listening (communication skills i.e. active listening)
• And you must keep it all going with accountability and difficult discussions

Last year Bedros and I were chatting about leadership and life.

He shared with me 3 qualities of leadership that effective leaders possess.

Why? 

These qualities attract people. 

And leadership is more of a game of attraction than promotion. 

To aid you, I would encourage you to take note and then develop the qualities for your own leadership and life.

1.  Have a clear mission
2.  Be comfortable in your skin
3.  Enjoy the ride

When driving your car, most of the time you need to be looking at what’s ahead.

This is important to ensure you arrive at the desired destination.

However, at times, you need to use your rearview mirror.

It’s there for a reason.

This provides a moment of reflection to check blind spots as you navigate forward.

This is the same with leadership.

Most times you need to look at what’s in front of you.

In fact, this is where the majority of your leadership time should be spent.

However, there are times when it’s needed to step back, reflect, and assess your blind spots.

We all have them.

By doing both, it will increase the probability you arrive at your destination safely and effectively. 

So my leadership message today as 2024 winds down is to look ahead to 2025.

Create your plan and cast your vision.

However, don’t forget to take some time this week to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2024.

This will give you a better perspective & vision to navigate the new year safely and effectively.

After all, leaders reflect.

Effective leadership requires presence.

How to develop more presence you might ask?

Drum roll.

Wait for it.

Are you ready?

Be present.

My leadership message today?

During today’s celebration and throughout the holidays.

Be present with your loved ones.

Put away the phone.

Turn off the TV.

Dig into enriching conversations with your loved ones about the important things in life.

Listen.

Make eye contact.

Be present.

After all, good leadership possesses presence.

Merry Christmas!